Chip shop dynasty keeps it in the family

Family affair: Tony Atkinson (left) with son Stuart and grandson Lewis.

Published:07:57Friday 15 April 2016

The Round ‘O’ Chip Shop, formerly Fish Bar, has been taken over by husband and wife team Stuart and Lindsay Atkinson.

The popular venue has been a fixture in Arbroath for over 90 years, since being opened in 1925 by an Italian called Prim Belli. He passed it on to another Italian family called Delpippo in the 1930s and they left it to daughters Eadie and Angie to run. Eadie later married Ralph Young who took over the business.

Stuart Atkinson told the Herald: “It is interesting to note that in its long history, whenever it has changed hands, it has always been to another member of the family. It has never been advertised on the open market and we are very proud to take over this legacy.”

After 55 years at the helm, Tony and Elaine Atkinson retired in May 2015, handing the shop on to son Stuart and his wife Lindsay, from the North Street Chip Shop, Forfar. After a three-week long refurbishment and modernisation the shop officially re-opened on April 8, 2016.

Stuart said: “We wanted to keep the outside traditional and in-keeping, as we too hope the Arbroath Abbey will be listed as a World Heritage site. We designed the inside to be fully up-to-date and with the best modern and hi-tech equipment to produce delicious fish and chips.”

The couple have also introduced a new menu and a new opening time of 11.45am. As well as the refurbishment, they have introduced three different loyalty cards for their suppers, chips and kids’ meals.

The kids’ loyalty card sees the children being rewarded with a free pass to local play centre Jumping Joeys.

Lindsay explained: “We decided to introduce loyalty cards to thank our loyal customers. Our little boy loves loyalty cards so I decided to launch a kids’ loyalty card to make them excited to come to the chip shop and, hopefully, lead to them eating more fish more often.”